


Blooming Chrysanthemums

by sarangx



Category: A.C.E (Beat Interactive Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bullying, Child Abandonment, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, by shapeshifters they turn into one (1) animal form, power kim siblings, protecc yuchan, soft, yuchan just loves plants
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-28
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2019-04-08 16:54:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14109840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarangx/pseuds/sarangx
Summary: Yuchan has grown used to the words of venom his brothers spit at him. He’s used to the bruises they deliver and the wounds they create. He’s used to his parents’ cold shoulders and the world’s unforgiving nature. What he’s not used to, however, is the soft eyes five people gaze at him with. Nor is he used to the tears pricking at his eyes or the cuts in his heart finally bleeding.Soft and furling like a chrysanthemum’s petals, this is the story of how Yuchan grows to recognize the warmth of family.





	1. Planting the Seed

**Author's Note:**

  * For [charmikarma](https://archiveofourown.org/users/charmikarma/gifts), [boybinary](https://archiveofourown.org/users/boybinary/gifts), [unatonable](https://archiveofourown.org/users/unatonable/gifts).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> plant boy piques badass female’s interest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is pretty short oops  
> btw i know eunsuh’s a 2000 liner, but for the sake of the story, she’s older. some of the boys’ ages also may not line up, but high-school aus are kinda hard if u dont change the ages  
> anyway enjoy this mess

Yuchan’s favorite flower was the chrysanthemum.

Maybe it was how the petals curled or how soft they were. Maybe it was its scent—rather than having a sickeningly sweet smell, the chrysanthemum allured Yuchan with the smell of herbs and the earth. They were fat flowers with small petals, and he loved every bit of their anatomy. He couldn’t possibly pin down the single reason it was deemed his favorite.

There weren’t any in his meadow, but that was okay. He had roses and lilies and gerberas and tulips to keep him company. They were all unique in their own ways, and after years of having nurtured them and caring for them, he adored their existences with every fiber of his being. They were his friends.

They didn’t judge him when he returned with bruises along his sides or a split lip. They didn’t join in on the jeering his siblings initialized. They didn’t speak, didn’t move, didn’t judge—they were just _there_. Yuchan appreciated them.

They helped him physically, too; they sacrificed their energies to him and allowed him to mix their nutrients into a poultice that he’d lay thick on his tender wounds. He’d always thank their brethren with a gentle smile. He’d patch up smaller cuts with band-aids and would use vines and leaves as gauze since he didn’t have any of the actual material. He liked to believe that the plants helped him heal quicker, even if he’d just return with a battered body again.

His little meadow in the back of the woods behind his house was his safe haven. His heart felt lighter and his head felt clearer. Surrounded by flowers and by nature was where he truly belonged, laid amongst white lilies and grass underneath a star-filled sky bathed in moonlight.

 

  
✦✦✦

 

  
Sunlight gently roused him awake. The beams of light filtered through his window and struck his eyelids, coloring his world bright orange. Drowsily, his eyes fluttered open and squinted from the light. He slowly sat up, dragging his sweater-clad hand across his face to rid himself of anymore sleep. He winced slightly when he accidentally brushed past a cut along the bridge of his nose, but he otherwise shook his head and set his feet on the floorboards.

They creaked under his weight, but he paid their noise no mind as he trudged his way along the area of his room to the closet. Almost mechanically, he followed his regular routine of starting the day.

After tugging on a faded green sweatshirt over his black jeans, he spared his room a glance and looked at the sun once more before nodding to himself and opening the door adjacent to his window. He hesitated slightly in front of the descending staircase, but managed to steel himself once more and continued to head down the steps quietly.

“Huh, the brat’s still alive,” Byulchan mused from his spot on the couch. His feet were propped up on the coffee table before him, his fingers tapping away at his phone. He barely even glanced at Yuchan.

“Good morning, Byulchan hyung,” Yuchan chirped anyway, smile on his face as he greeted his brother with a bow. “What would you like for breakfast today?”

“Yah, I’m here, too, idiot,” Dongchan griped, swatting at Yuchan’s head as he exited the hallway to enter the younger’s line of vision. The force of the hit sent Yuchan’s skull aching, but the polite smile remained on his face.

“I’m sorry, hyung,” he said with a deeper bow, “it won’t happen again.”

Dongchan’s only response was a dismissive glare.

“What would hyungs like to eat?” Yuchan continued, voice not wavering despite how cold the room suddenly felt.

 

After carefully cooking the predetermined breakfast, he set the precise amounts of food for each of his brothers: more kimchi for Dongchan, more rice for Byulchan. He also went on to pour the two their separate drinks before he signaled that breakfast was ready.

He bowed to them once they entered. He then left the room to gather his backpack and to prepare his materials for when he’d head out to school in the coming hour. He was gently placing one of his herbology books in the bag when a sudden shout came from the dining room.

“Yah! Yuchan-ah! Why did you give me tomato juice when I asked for orange juice?” It was Byulchan.

_You didn’t, hyung_ , Yuchan dared to think to himself. He shook the thought away and plastered an apologetic smile on his face. When he entered the dining room, he was immediately met with a slap.

“What is this? Some kind of joke?”

“No, hyung,” Yuchan murmured, cheek burning from the blow. He bent his head down and straightened his back in a ninety-degree bow. “It was my mistake. I must’ve heard wrong.”

“Damn right you heard wrong!” Byulchan was seething, cheeks flushed with anger. “You’re lucky I don’t slam this glass right into that empty head of yours!”

More verbal attacks were thrown at him, more threats and even one more slap on the same cheek.

“I don’t want to see your face for the rest of the day. Go run along to school and don’t come back till I’m dead asleep.”

Yuchan complied silently, dipping his head lower before turning and grabbing his backpack. He didn’t look behind him once before he stepped through the front door and out into the world.

 

His school wasn’t big. It was small and dainty with only one floor of a single building. That building, though, was so complex that even as a sophomore, Yuchan still regularly got confused. The hallways were narrow and twisted around countless classrooms that all looked the same. Poor freshmen wouldn’t get the hang of it until they were at least half way through the year.

He had made it through his first two periods and was struggling to find his way to third; biology was in the far west wing, but oddly enough, it was in between two English classes and often had loads of crowds coming and going from the cafeteria adjacent to the doors.

It surely didn’t help that Yuchan was god awful at directions.

He was about to take another left when girlish screams stopped him in his tracks. He stepped forward and his eyes widened when he looked around the corner.

“Yah! Raise your head, dumbass!” It was Kim Eunsuh. Her brown hair was held high in a band, swaying as she locked a boy—Lee Seunghun?—into a headlock. Her eyes were narrowed and her lips were pursed into an unamused frown. She didn’t look happy.

“I-I can’t, noona,” he sputtered out, the girl’s arm pushing into his neck.

“Why not? Is it because of _this_ —?“ she dug her elbow into his shoulder, further putting weight on her arm and thus completely cutting off the guy’s air supply.

Seunghun wheezed, the move knocking the rest of the air out of his lungs. His legs shook from holding his dead weight, and as his face turned purple, he weakly smacked Eunsuh’s arms in a feeble attempt to let him go. She only released him when his entire body went limp.

She let his body lurch to the floor. She brought her arm back to herself before stretching it, barely even considering the unconscious body of Lee Seunghun on the ground.

“Is he dead?” Yuchan whispered, poking his head out from the corner of the hall. He had watched the scene attentively with starstruck eyes. He now couldn’t take his gaze away from the still body in front of Eunsuh.

“No, just unconscious,” she said with a chuckle. A small smile was on her face as she studied the wonder in the boy’s face.

“Did he steal Changkyun’s lunch money again?” He fixed his big eyes on her now, genuine question slipping from his lips. “I think he’s stolen like fifty-four thousand won from him now.”

“How do you know that?” Eunsuh said skeptically, now realizing that this was a boy she had never seen before. He knew an awful lot.

“People talk, noona,” Yuchan answered with a small smile. His eyes glittered. “I think class is starting in less than a minute now. Bye, Eunsuh noona!” He bowed and scurried away to third period.

Eunsuh only watched him leave with more questions on her mind.

 

“So I was beating up Donghun’s brother, right,” Eunsuh was saying to Sehyoon and Junhee, “and like, this kid saw me knock him the fuck out.”

They were hanging out in the abandoned house they had taken over. Nature had already claimed it, as vines hung off of the roof and leaves grew in between the cracks in the wooden walls. The shutters for the windows had blooming daisies in their crevices, and anyone outside would miss the building completely had they not been looking for it.

The interior of their house was surprisingly clean save for dust and cobwebs. It had a lot of room—as though the person who originally lived there had planned on moving out. The only furniture was a mangled couch in the center of the main room and a low table in one of the three remaining rooms. Eunsuh, Sehyoon, and Junhee, along with their friends Byeongkwan and Donghun, had taken over the home for a little less than a year. It was their secret hide-out, and not even Junhee’s grandmother knew where it was. It was hidden deep in the woods about a mile from Donghun’s house, but it fortunately wasn’t deep enough for the Wi-Fi connection to falter.

“How is this news?” Sehyoon muttered from beside her, thumb flicking up on his phone screen as he scrolled through Twitter.

“No, listen, he was weird,” Eunsuh insisted, lips jutting out into a pout as her eyebrows furrowed. “Like, he knew how much money Seunghun had taken from Changkyun. Fifty-four thousand won, can you believe that?”

“How the hell does he know that kind of information?” Junhee said, suddenly finding interest in the conversation.

“I asked him, and all he said was that people talk about it.” She shrugged, leaning back in her chair as she swirled a lollipop around in her mouth. “I was hoping you’d know who he was, Junnie.”

“Well, I’d kind of have to know what he looks like first.”

“He’s got brown hair,” Eunsuh explained lamely, eyes squinting as she thought back to earlier that day. “He’s got some pale skin, and he has some band-aids on his face. He has a bit of an accent—I think Jeju? He has a pretty quiet voice, so I’m not really sure.”

“Ah, Kang Yuchan?” Junhee spoke up, snapping his fingers. He tilted his head. “He’s a sophomore. I don’t know much about him—just that Kang Dongchan and Byulchan are his brothers.”

“ _Those_ assholes? Really?” Eunsuh said in surprise, taking the lollipop out of her mouth. “He acts nothing like them!”

“Siblings are weird.” Junhee shrugged. “Unlike them, there’s almost no information on him at all. He’s like a ghost.”

“I think I’m gonna sit with him tomorrow. We have the same lunch period.”

“Eunsuh, why are you socializing all of a sudden?” Sehyoon asked incredulously. “All he did was say a few words to you. What’s the big deal?”

“I dunno,” she said with a shrug. “He just seems to know more than he lets on. He seems interesting.”

 

 

 

_And so the seed was planted._


	2. Growing a Stem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> plant boy forgets book; badass female is further intrigued

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was mentally very challenging to write; there’s semi-graphic depictions of abuse in this one so please be warned.

When Yuchan had returned home that day, he had forgotten Byulchan’s words to not come back until he was asleep.

What a mistake.

Yuchan entered the house quietly as he usually did, body stiffening subconsciously when he had first caught sight of his house. He hesitated in front of the door for a bit, but ultimately shuffled inside. He was met by a wine glass thrown at his head barely after the door had shut.

“What the hell are you doing home so soon?” Byulchan screeched, eyes narrowed to furious slits as he stalked towards Yuchan. “Didn’t I clearly tell you not to show your fucking face to me again?”

The younger was still trying to get over the shock of the previous blow. He had managed to dodge most of the attack by reflexively ducking, but some glass had managed to cut into his forehead. He could feel it burning.

“I-I’m sorry, Byulchan hyung. I—“

“Don’t fucking _stutter_!” Byulchan landed a hard slap on Yuchan’s face, the force knocking his head to the left harshly. His skin felt like it was on fire. “Your only use in this house is your chores and your work. You’re nothing but a housekeeper here! You must follow what _I_ say, got that?”

“Yes, hyung.” Yuchan bowed deeply, biting his lip to stop a rising sob. He wished he had built an immunity to the treatment, but the pain pulsing from his head and cheek was a cruel reminder that he was still very vulnerable.

“What did you say?” The taller boy reached for Yuchan’s collar, lifting him off of the ground and forcing his face closer to Byulchan’s.

“Y-yes, Byulchan hyung.”

His body was thrown to the ground like a ragdoll, limbs crashing to the floor and landing on broken glass. Yuchan winced, feeling the shards pierce his skin and tear gashes. His hip ached from taking the brunt of the fall.

“You’re being a real pain in the ass with all your stuttering,” his brother hissed, crouching down to meet the other’s eye level. “What are you? Autistic?” He landed a hard smack on the side of Yuchan’s face, effectively splitting his lip and irritating the already tender area of his cheek.

He chose to stay quiet, his eyes downcast as he took the beating. His entire face felt like it was melting from the pain, and he could feel blood drip from his lip and into his mouth, the metallic tang of it filling his senses. He was already starting to feel light-headed.

“C’mon—stand up,” Byulchan commanded, rising from his position next to the other. “Don’t be a pussy.”

Yuchan gritted his teeth, forcing his body up. His muscles rightfully screamed at the movement, pain bursting even more from the wounds on his side. He could feel some shards fall as he stood, clattering onto the ground bloodstained. The world spun around him a bit, but he shakily exhaled to keep his composure.

“Now,” the older said with a wicked grin, “back down.” He shoved Yuchan onto the broken pieces of glass once more, including the ones that were bloodied.

The brunette couldn’t stifle a whimper as new wounds were opened and the previous ones were fiercely aggravated. He could feel the blood seep through his sweatshirt and drip onto the floor. Tears pricked at his eyes from the pure agony of it all.

“I’ll let you off easy this time, Yuchan-ah,” Byulchan said. “But you still have to clean that up. Once you do, you better make yourself gone or I won’t be so kind.” He left without another word or a glance back.

Yuchan let out a relieved breath, flinching from how the simple action caused his injuries to ache. He carefully urged his limbs to work, forcing his body upwards for the second time. He swayed for a moment before he steeled himself and stepped away from the mess of broken glass. He tried not to think about how all that blood on the pieces was his.

He limped to the storage closet—it was luckily only a few feet away—to grab the broom. He pretended that he didn’t lean on it all the way back to the spot he had just bled.

He silently swept all the shards into a pile, the pieces quietly clinking together as the burning of Yuchan’s cheek persisted. He chose to ignore everything except for the job at hand.

After disposing of the mess and wiping up the blood, he gathered up the rest of his energy to pick up his backpack and start towards his meadow.

He was sure he looked like shit: split lip, splotchy red cheeks, cut forehead, bloodied clothes and all. But no one lived close enough to see him, much less care about his well-being. If they found out he was a shifter, he was done for. They’d agree with his brothers and would probably beat him up even worse.

The walk wasn’t long, but it felt especially excruciating that day. Everything hurt and his head had started to ache, too. His dizziness had also increased, but his legs seemed to know where to go well enough despite the tree roots grabbing for his feet.

Finally, the beautiful sight of daisies and tickseed greeted him. They seemed to reach for him, seemed to beckon him forward with their slim stems and velvet petals. He couldn’t help but let a smile pull on his lips—even though it hurt—when he saw them.

He finally collapsed to the ground when he had reached the center. The grass was warm from a sunny day, and it caressed his abused skin kindly. He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, letting his animal form through.

Antlers sprouted from his head, the same color as his hair but made of velvet-covered bone. They reached to the sky, and when Yuchan felt the breeze go in between them, his smile grew tenfold. He already felt so much better.

He gingerly pulled the stained sweatshirt over his head. His body was immediately racked by the autumn chill and the open wounds stung. He bit back a hiss of pain, and twisted his head to look over his hip and thigh.

Lacerations to his side weren’t too deep save for a few that still had shards of glass stuck in them. For those, he carefully picked them out despite the wave of discomfort he was met with. He then went on to grab a water bottle from his backpack to wash out the wounds, wincing again but pushed through it as he lathered band-aids over the smaller cuts. He’d need more soon.

When he was done cleaning up, the sun had set low below the horizon, announcing the time of dusk. Stars were already starting to flicker into view, so Yuchan took full advantage of the time and laid on his back to stare up at them.

They twinkled at him, and seemed to smile and offer words of encouragement. He set his head on his arms, listening attentively to their wise words that weren’t really verbal; he didn’t need to hear them to understand.

 _Better days are ahead_ , they whispered to him. He couldn’t help but to believe them.

  
✦✦✦

  
“Eunsuh noona?” Yuchan inquired, “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to eat lunch of course,” she said with a grin. She plopped down next to the brunette with her tray of food, her hair still fastened into a ponytail.

It was his lunch period, and Kim Eunsuh had decided fo sit with him. _Kim Eunsuh_. He couldn’t wrap his head around why on earth she’d sit at his table out of the plenty of tables there already were.

“Uhm, why here?” Yuchan asked slowly, big eyes mirroring question marks as he continued to stare at Eunsuh.

“I wanted a change of scenery.” She shrugged, already beginning to tap vigorously on her phone. She didn’t spare Yuchan even one look.

“I- okay.” He still gave her side glances, but otherwise he continued his usual lunch routine: reading. He flipped through the pages of _The Modern Herbal Dispensatory_ , and had just finished chapter five when the other sophomore spoke up.

“You’re Kang Yuchan, right?”

He froze, hand hovering over the page he was about to turn. He could feel his heart pound in his chest at the question.

“How did you know that?” He was watching her dubiously, eyes narrowed in alarm.

“Listen, Yuchan-ah,” she straightened her posture and she had actually put her phone away at some point, “you know who I am—Kim Eunsuh. And you know what I do, don’t you?”

Terror flooded Yuchan’s veins as he heard the honorific slip from Eunsuh’s mouth. He heart was beating loud in his ears, and paired with the sound of his blood rushing he hadn’t heard the rest of her words. He suddenly felt very cold, very alone, and very vulnerable. Goosebumps ran across his arms and he had simultaneously started sweating. His wounds from the previous night were aching again, and his split lip was starting to bleed from the act of him picking at it with his teeth.

“If you’ll excuse me, noona—“ Yuchan murmured shakily, vision blurry as flashbacks bombarded him because of something as simple as an honorific. He stood up, grabbed his backpack, and left the cafeteria on unsteady legs, completely forgetting the book he had been reading.

Eunsuh cocked her head to the side in confusion, watching the boy go. After she saw the doors swing shut behind him, she she shifted her gaze to the thick book he had left behind.

“ _The Modern Herbal Dispensatory_?” she recited the title from the book cover. She stared at it for a minute longer, considering if she should read it or not. She decided to do so.

 

“Guys, look!” Eunsuh exclaimed, pushing the book towards all four of the boys. They had all managed to gather at their hideout per Eunsuh’s request.

“I passed up vocal lessons for a book on herbs,” Donghun muttered incredulously, face unimpressed as he gave the book one look before glaring at the girl.

“No, no, look at this first page,” she whined, opening the book to reveal the Table of Contents with small notes scribbled around each chapter title. “This one says, ‘ _flowers during day, roots during fall_ ’ and this one: ‘ _yarrow/grindelia; bone??_ ’”

“Eunsuh, what are you doing right now?” Byeongkwan asked, raising an eyebrow. “What does all this chicken-scratch have to do with us?”

“Healing,” she replied, like the single word would answer everyone’s questions. “Kang Yuchan can heal. He’s studying this type of stuff, so he’s sure to know some medicinal things, right?”

“So what if he does?” Byeongkwan said, waving his arm dismissively. “Seriously, you’re being really weird. What are you getting at?”

“God, you’re all so dense,” she groaned. “What I’m saying is that we should get him on our team!”

They all stared at her as if she had grown two heads.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Eunsuh reasoned, puffing out her cheeks in annoyance. “We need some kind of doctor here. If you expect Sehyoon and I to be your muscle, we’re gonna have to have someone who can heal us if we’re in bad shape.”

“You two haven’t lost a fight in ages. Besides, we can always go to a hospital if we need to,” Junhee spoke up, frown pulling at his lips.

“And spend your grandmother’s money on overpriced fees?” she retorted, to which he looked away. “Look, we still get hurt to some degree in fights. We can’t keep bandaging ourselves up with band-aids and cotton balls. We need someone who has the knowledge and the ability to help us out.”

“And you’re choosing the brother of Kang Dongchan and Byulchan?” Donghun said. “Not a wise choice.”

“Your brother is Lee Seunghun, oppa,” Eunsuh scoffed. “You have no room to talk.”

“Eunsuh-yah, come on,” Junhee commented with exasperation. “Something’s up with that kid—you said so yourself. There are no rumors about him or any sort of speculation. He’s completely a shadow there, and you want us to trust him enough to appoint him as our healer? We’re all shifters here, and just because you’re human doesn’t mean you don’t know how the world sees us.”

“Yes, but Jun—“

“ _Eunsuh_ ,” he warned, an edge to his voice as he glared at her sharply. “We can’t trust a stranger with this place. It’s too risky, and there’s no way he’d accept to come anyway.”

“But oppa!” Eunsuh shouted, fists clenched by her sides. “You’re not listening to me! I’m telling you we can trust him! What if he’s a shifter, too, hm? And we just leave him out there in the cruel world where we all know he’ll get killed?”

Junhee stared at her, searching her gaze for something but ending up in vein. He sighed heavily, eyes tired as he considered Eunsuh’s words.

“He uses _herbs_ as medicine. He could use some weird chemicals or some shit, but he uses herbs. Isn’t that peculiar at all to you?” She had seen his hesitance and had eagerly taken advantage. “Come on, guys. Trust me,” she begged, turning her gaze to each boy in turn.

All four of the shifters consulted one another via eye contact until Junhee spoke up.

“Fine. But you must find a way to convince him to help us.”

“Then it’s settled.” Eunsuh grinned.

 

 

 

_And silently, the smallest of stems peaked out of the dirt._


End file.
